God's Call: Genesis 12:1-3
All we need to do is to hear His call and be willing to follow. That sounds so easy, until we realize God may call us to give up what we have and know and go do something else. It is a relationship built on trust. God calls; we trust His call will not disappoint and follow.
God speaks to Abram, telling him to take his family and go to a new place. God wants to do something exceptionally special with Abram. To accomplish it, Abram needs to leave his comfort zone.
There are two facts from chapter 11 we need to go back and pick up for full context. It might have seemed odd for the Tower of Babel story to come from the region of Babylon instead of Israel. This story explains why. Abram comes from Ur, which was a Sumerian city that becomes part of the Babylonian Empire. It makes sense for the history of the Hebrew people to include stories from the Fertile Crescent because that’s where Abram came from.
Second, Abram’s father started this journey. Genesis 11:31 speaks about Terah, Abram’s father, leaving Ur to go to Canaan. Terah takes his surviving sons, his grandson, and their families with him. Terah only gets about halfway before settling down at Haran. Abram’s quest to be the founder of the Hebrew faith started with Terah. Had Terah finished the quest and got to Canaan, we could be talking about Terah as the father of the faith and not Abram.
Why did Terah stop? We don’t know. It could be Terah was old and needed to stop. It could be Haran was safe, comfortable and granted economic gain - in Genesis 12:5 we get an indication that Abram’s wealth increased in Haran. Perhaps Terah only seems to be the leader of the expedition in Genesis 11 but was only following Abram’s path as a figurehead. Whatever the case, Terah stops in Haran.
The lesson is that Abram was faithful. He heard God’s call and he moved. He was willing to let his influence reach out to others as God moved. Terah’s life, Nahor’s life, and Lot’s life are changed along with Abram’s life. God promises to bless Abram and those who bless him; we see the promise already start to find fulfillment in Terah, Nahor, and Lot.
God is a God of splendor; He grants us beautiful things all the time. Our lives show signs of His blessing. He may ask us to step out of our comfort zone from time to time, but it is worth it. He is such a God of splendor He allows the blessings of our faithfulness to trickle out into those around us who take notice.
Our current circumstance is far less important than the circumstance to which He is calling. He wants to bless us. He wants to bless those around us. All we need to do is to hear His call and be willing to follow.
